Recently, carbon-based nanomaterials, e.g., carbon nanotubes (CNTs) and reduced graphene oxide (r-GO), have been believed to be promising candidates for various flexible electronic devices like flexible transparent electrodes, electrochemical energy storage and conversion, electrical skin, and actuators. These widely practical applications are attributed to their high performance including significant flexibility with relatively high Young's modulus and good tunable metallic/semiconducting electrical properties. These carbon-based nanomaterials have demonstrated electronic properties that are highly sensitive to ambient humidity.
Their capability for humidity detection, has generated lots of interest up to now. On one hand, this is due to the fast-growing demand of industrial flexible electronics for environment humidity sensing and control. Compared with traditional humidity sensitive materials, like ceramics (e.g., Al2O3 and TiO2), semiconductors (e.g., GaN, SnO2, and In2O3) and polymers (e.g., polyelectrolytes and conducting polymers), carbon-based nanomaterials exhibit larger surface-volume ratio, faster response, higher reproducibility, lower cost, and suitability for large scale manufacturing.
There remains a need, however, for improved systems, and methods for using the aforementioned humidity sensitivities.